Hey folks. I picked up a Gottlieb 2001 from CL the other day. Playfield is decent, backglass is perfect, mechanicals are 100%. However... the cabinet... oh dear... oh boy... it's an alcoholic. Had many a drink in its day. The floppy bottom panel is about to fall out. Lots of beer went down there. Also the cabinet is mega-scratched and the backbox is faded and cracked. Doesn't really do "2001" justice if you know what I mean.

I guess you can tell where I'm going with this. Was thinking of taking stencils and reverse-engineering a new wedgehead cab from scratch. And, of course, learning how to do the proper webbing splatter.

Anyone try this before?

The alternative would be to sand everything down and repaint/re-stencil and replace the bottom panel entirely. Assuming the side panels aren't also water-damaged. Need to recheck that.

Sounds like a big, ugly job...

Dan the man! OK... advice from all taken to heart. I'll save the original cab if I can. Will take a closer look when I'm not suffering from the flu. If it looks OK, I'll contact Ken and Adrian and get some options. Though of course a big part of the pinball thing is the challenge of taking on something new. Might be fun to turn a cab assembly into a group project.

Will post some photos after the sick subsides. *blechoo*

Dang... you guys are a wealth of options and advice. I've seen that Kickstarter before - ambitious indeed but their designs are INTENSE. A unique look for sure.

Ack! Didn't think about the lead paint issue. Definitely a problem. No way I'm going to pollute my communal workspace with lead dust. What year did they stop using it?

I generally agree, unless the cab is a weak one to begin with. Like Discotek. I can't imagine putting in hours of work to save such a dull, empty-looking playfield. Worse, the layout looks pretty weak, which a re-theme wouldn't fix.

Just ew.

Hey good to see you on here! I'll keep the cabs rolling your way.

Your services are an important asset to our hobby & you do great work!